So, as many of you are wandering, I'm sure, what on earth I actually do with my days given that my work schedule is 12-hours a week, (if that) I feel now is the time to give you a sneek peek of the life of PollyJ here in SLM. Don't get too excited.
Monday- We start the week at a classic 7.00am. This is something I will NOT be adapting back in England life. Don't worry, there is plenty of snooze-ing done, usually until the last possible moment, as in, out of bed 7.47am- leave house at 8. If there is no time for breakfast, a strawberry milkshake from the "chinois/ corner shop" will have to do. 8.15- My first class of the week. This lucky class get to test out my lesson plan for the week, before all the other classes, generally meaning its in need of a bit of improvement. But, I like these guys- generally good banter. UNLIKE class number 2. I generally have some chocolate in the break to psych myself up for it but it doesn't do much good. They are the worst of the week consistently. I walk in, teacher walks out for a snack, chat, and general free hour. Kids go wild. I sit and wait... sometimes for half the class. We get round to the date, I send a couple of people out. I ask "how are you?" they reply "yes". I explain that this doesn't make sense and the class is finished. Teacher has not returned so I leave them and go next door. To the young'uns- meaning they're cute, but they don't understand. If, after an hour someone stands up when I ask who is wearing 'green' we have done well.
And that's it for the days work. 11am- I'm out of there! Sometime between 11 and 6 I will fit in the weekly food shop. More and more depressing as the weeks go by. I just cannot live permanently in a place where bread, milk, eggs, salami cheese and juice with the odd tin of veg costs 30 pounds. Thing is, even if I had all the money in the world, there is nothing to spend it on. There just isn't the choice. And that's when the shop is full! Often, there are whole aisles empty, waiting for a delivery from France. There was cheese-gate at the beginning of January and Peanut-butter-gate has been ongoing for a while now. 33 types of pasta does not make up for the fact that there is only one type of sauce for the pasta... tomato.
Sometimes I teach a private lesson on Mondays, but if not thats about it until Yoga at 6. Thankfully the easy class is on Mondays, so its mostly stretching, ommm-ing, lots of lying down, namaste, au revoir. My kind of exercize. Monday night is normally write blog night, epic fail this week as you can see.
Tuesday- Same thing, three hours at a school 8-11 (My favourite school). The teachers are organised, they tell me what to do, and they control the class when they don't listen. Sort of, like, what they are supposed to do! Sometimes I even get an e-mail the day before informing me of what I will be expected to do- what a treat! In the afternoon I do a class with some adults - primary school teachers who have to learn English to be able to teach it in their classes. Sometimes 1 person shows up, if we are lucky, 3. I bore them with my poor grammar knowledge and a banal role-play that I have been told to do, everyone leaves, thankful it is over for another week.
Tuesday evening is a bit of a loose end. No yoga, pool closed, not even the juice place by the river is open! Awkward. I'll watch a film, faff around or maybe go for a bike ride. Or, do some baking, which is planning to get into as of now.
Wednesday- Another 3 hours at school- yet again a different one. I teach 4 classes for 40 mins each, although normally at least one teacher is absent. They don't replace teachers here. They tell the kids not to come, and if anyone shows up they get lumped in with another class to do some colouring. great solution. Sometimes, the kids have been naughty and are not allowed to have an English class- even less work. Either way, I end up doing not very much. I head to the market when I'm done, tomatoes, bananas, lettuce, and for a special treat Peppers! are usually on the list. Again, fairly uninspiring, same stuff every week, although there is a stall that does a nice slice of raspberry tart!
Wednesday lunch is the first swim of the week- I always aim for 100 lengths but, generally I consider anything over 80 lengths to be an acceptable amount to justify the raspberry tart. Lots of faffing, and soon enough its 6pm, yoga class number 2. No relaxing here. The poster is put up on the wall. You do 5 sun salutation A, 5 sun salutation B and you are off. You follow the postures on the poster, nobody talks, and the teacher comes round and sometimes moves you into the right position. The best part by far is the lying down at the end- if you rush through the positions, sometimes you can even fit in a cheeky nap!
Thursday- The dreaded hour of 6.30am is seen once a week as I have to be teaching by 8 but the school is a half an hour bike ride away. I teach some more little ones. We played simon says on the first day, and everything I have done since has been a let down for them. The teacher told me to just send people out if they misbehave, even if I only have one person left at the end. Its quite fun. How are you? Yes! Are you tired? Yes! So you want to sleep? No! You're hungry? No, who want's food? Yes... and so on... ridiculous.
I have an hour break between classes so I sit by the river, eat a precious apple (literally a euro each)- and then its back on the bike to go half an hour further down the road. I reach the school sweating ridiculously having had to walk up the biggest hill in the area because I have still not succeeded in biking all the way to the top. 45 minutes of heads, shoulders, knees and toes has pretty much kept me going since october, although we did make snowflakes at christmas for a bit of variety. 11am and I'm off back to SLM, a delightful hour on the bike in the midday heat.
At the beginning of the year I would sometimes go to the cinema on Thursdays, but, sadly, it has closed down, because they don't even make films in the format the the cinema runs on anymore. I mean, seriously. Occasionally they show old documentaries but not often. If not, its a cookie and a juice by the river and some book reading. Thrilling.
Friday- Time for a lie-in. Today I can snooze until 8.40am because I don't have to leave until 9! I make it to the school for half past, but luckily the break always goes long and I only end up having to teach for about 20 minutes. Its the same class as thursday. The only class I teach two times a week, and the ones that understand the least. I am also their ONLY english teacher. Given that I have no idea of the curriculum for their age (or in fact any age I teach)- one can only hope some of it will be relevant in the future. As we only have 20 mins, I never plan much apart from, er, finish what we did yesterday. The day break finishes on time I am up shit creek. Oh wait- we are in Guyane. The break will never finish on time.
I then teach two of the nicest/ highest level classes of the week which is a nice end to the week and then bike home at lunch time in rush hour! (ha!) Seriously, there is a bigger rush hour here at lunchtime than there is in the morning or the evening. People must seriously be craving crepes and baguette!
If it is an exciting weeked (probably not) I will then hitchhike/ taxi/ carshare to somewhere more exciting and see some other assistants. If not, the friday night highlight is another 100 lengths at the pool. Before christmas we used to go out to some bars for a boogie, but to be honest it's the same thing every night, and I do not want random old rasta's grinding up on me and stinking of weed, paying paris prices in a shack in the middle of nowhere. So... I haven't been for a while.
Saturday- Definite lie-in, this time a proper one as I have nothing to get up for :D Then its off to the market to stock up on raspberry tart. Sometimes I go crazy and get a couple of spring rolls, a samosa and call it a picnic! whoop! Movie in the afternoon perhaps, bike ride and some more cookies and juice in the evening! possibilities are endless
Sunday- Another lie-in, obvs. Then another 100 lengths. Go me. Then its lesson planning day. I don't know why I always leave it last minute but I do. Every week I plan to do something exciting and different, every week it gets to sunday and im like, hmm, ok lets do... the alphabet. Planning done. I generally have a marathon skype afternoon with however is available and then... as it is carnival season, around 4-5 the parade starts, it gets to loud to hear so I go outside grab an ice-cream and watch.
Sunday evening is choir time- we have a concert in April and already know all the songs, but seriously I doubt we'll be ready. The level is, shall we say, not quite university standard. On the plus side, its something to do and everyone is friendly :D
And that my friends, is about it. Im sure you're all wildly jealous. NOT. Hope my life hasn't been to boring for you :D xxx
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